P1.9-B USAID marine conservation project to benefit Ilocos Norte waters

US AMBASSADOR VISITS LC. Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Farinas hands over a "Key to Laoag" as a sign of friendship to US ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg in his visit to Laoag and Ilocos Norte on September 3, 2014 at the city hall auditorium. (Doms dela Cruz)

By Reynaldo E. Andres

Contributor

CURRIMAO, Ilocos Norte—The US government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has invested more than P1.9 billion (roughly $46.5 million) to support marine biodiversity conservation in the Philippines in order to address the problem of overfishing; illegal, unregulated and unsustainable fishing practices; and habitat degradation.

This development partnership, according to US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg, will surely increase fish stocks in Philippines oceans, rehabilitate critical fish habitats, support modernization of fisheries management, and mitigate conflicts over natural resources.

Speaking before hundreds of students and employees of MMSU during the launching program of the Marine-Based Development Center at the MMSU College of Aquatic Sciences and Applied Technology (CASAT) in this town on September 4, Mr. Goldberg assured that this project, which was already launched in 2012, will include Ilocos Norte coastlines in addition to the nine areas that are already benefiting from it.

Mr. Goldberg said this project seeks not only to enhance the conservation and management of Philippine coastal and marine resources areas, but also to replenish the marine life of these biodiversity areas in the country.

Aside from Ilocos Norte, the other marine biodiversity areas are found in Palawan, Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan, Lagonoy Gulf in Bicol region, San Bernardino Strait in Leyte-Samar region, Danajon Double Barrier Reef spanning Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Southern Negros Occidental, and Surigao; Sulu archipelago; and the Verde Island passage in Batangas.

“The project is designed to contribute to the priority goals and actions laid out in the Philippine Development Plan for 2016 in the areas of sustainable fisheries, as well as in the conservation and rehabilitation of natural resources,” Mr. Goldberg said adding that it also supports the current US country assistance strategy with regard to reducing threats to biodiversity, and improving natural resources and environment.

As a whole, the USAID-funded project aims to improve the management of important coastal and marine resources and associated ecosystems that supports local economies through biological diversity conservation, ecosystem productivity enhancement, and restoration of fisheries profitability.

This P1.9 billion project for the marine fishery sector, according to Mr. Goldberg, will enable the government, through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, to rebound and sustain the country’s marine resources, conservation and competitiveness initiatives.

Anent to this, Mr. Goldberg said that Secretary of State John Kerry had gathered key government, science, industry, and civil society leaders for a two-day conference last June  in Washington, D.C. to explore the significant challenges that the Philippine oceans are facing today such as acidification,  unsustainable fishing practices, and marine pollution, among other things.

“This is just the latest chapter in decades of US- Philippine cooperation on ocean protection that we are doing,” Mr. Goldberg stressed.

Meanwhile, one way by which the United States and the Philippine’s environment conservation agencies, such as the DENR and BFAR, can save the oceans is the installation of underwater Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) in the identified marine biodiversity conservation sites.

The ARMS will be provided for by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in partnership with the USAID and the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the DENR.  

ARMS provide a systematic, consistent, and an easy way to monitor marine reef habitats and species.  Since the NOAA program began in 2008, more than 850 ARMS have already been installed throughout the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. 

The installation of the ARMS in the Philippines is part of a long term plan by the US government and the Philippines, through the DENR, to deploy more ARMS units in protected marine areas to support biodiversity monitoring activities.